diff --git a/c-api-examples/Makefile b/c-api-examples/Makefile
index 14e38ad4..18ddda27 100644
--- a/c-api-examples/Makefile
+++ b/c-api-examples/Makefile
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 
 CUR_DIR :=$(shell pwd)
 
-CFLAGS := -I ../
+CFLAGS := -I ../ -I ../build/_deps/cargs-src/include/
 LDFLAGS := -L ../build/lib
 LDFLAGS += -L ../build/_deps/onnxruntime-src/lib
-LDFLAGS += -lsherpa-onnx-c-api -lsherpa-onnx-core -lonnxruntime -lkaldi-native-fbank-core
+LDFLAGS += -lsherpa-onnx-c-api -lsherpa-onnx-core -lonnxruntime -lkaldi-native-fbank-core -lcargs
 LDFLAGS += -Wl,-rpath,${CUR_DIR}/../build/lib
 LDFLAGS += -Wl,-rpath,${CUR_DIR}/../build/_deps/onnxruntime-src/lib
 
diff --git a/c-api-examples/decode-file-c-api.c b/c-api-examples/decode-file-c-api.c
index afcc3e4b..792b12d6 100644
--- a/c-api-examples/decode-file-c-api.c
+++ b/c-api-examples/decode-file-c-api.c
@@ -52,7 +52,21 @@ static struct cag_option options[] = {
      .access_name = "decoding-method",
      .value_name = "decoding-method",
      .description =
-         "Decoding method: greedy_search (default), modified_beam_search"}};
+         "Decoding method: greedy_search (default), modified_beam_search"},
+    {.identifier = 'f',
+     .access_letters = NULL,
+     .access_name = "hotwords-file",
+     .value_name = "hotwords-file",
+     .description = "The file containing hotwords, one words/phrases per line, "
+                    "and for each phrase the bpe/cjkchar are separated by a "
+                    "space. For example: ▁HE LL O ▁WORLD, 你 好 世 界"},
+    {.identifier = 's',
+     .access_letters = NULL,
+     .access_name = "hotwords-score",
+     .value_name = "hotwords-score",
+     .description = "The bonus score for each token in hotwords. Used only "
+                    "when decoding_method is modified_beam_search"},
+};
 
 const char *kUsage =
     "\n"
@@ -130,6 +144,12 @@ int32_t main(int32_t argc, char *argv[]) {
       case 'm':
         config.decoding_method = value;
         break;
+      case 'f':
+        config.hotwords_file = value;
+        break;
+      case 's':
+        config.hotwords_score = atof(value);
+        break;
       case 'h': {
         fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", kUsage);
         exit(0);
diff --git a/c-api-examples/run.sh b/c-api-examples/run.sh
index ac986cf9..45ebaaa1 100755
--- a/c-api-examples/run.sh
+++ b/c-api-examples/run.sh
@@ -27,8 +27,22 @@ if [ ! -f ./decode-file-c-api ]; then
 fi
 
 ./decode-file-c-api \
-  ./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/tokens.txt \
-  ./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/encoder-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
-  ./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/decoder-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
-  ./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/joiner-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  --tokens=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/tokens.txt \
+  --encoder=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/encoder-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  --decoder=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/decoder-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  --joiner=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/joiner-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  ./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/test_wavs/0.wav
+
+# Run with hotwords
+
+echo "礼 拜 二" > hotwords.txt
+
+./decode-file-c-api \
+  --tokens=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/tokens.txt \
+  --encoder=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/encoder-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  --decoder=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/decoder-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  --joiner=./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/joiner-epoch-99-avg-1.onnx \
+  --hotwords-file=hotwords.txt \
+  --hotwords-score=1.5 \
+  --decoding-method=modified_beam_search \
   ./sherpa-onnx-streaming-zipformer-bilingual-zh-en-2023-02-20/test_wavs/0.wav
diff --git a/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.cc b/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.cc
index 7b3c55b1..07933bee 100644
--- a/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.cc
+++ b/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.cc
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ SherpaOnnxOnlineRecognizer *CreateOnlineRecognizer(
   recognizer_config.endpoint_config.rule3.min_utterance_length =
       SHERPA_ONNX_OR(config->rule3_min_utterance_length, 20);
 
+  recognizer_config.hotwords_file = SHERPA_ONNX_OR(config->hotwords_file, "");
+  recognizer_config.hotwords_score =
+      SHERPA_ONNX_OR(config->hotwords_score, 1.5);
+
   if (config->model_config.debug) {
     fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", recognizer_config.ToString().c_str());
   }
@@ -297,6 +301,10 @@ SherpaOnnxOfflineRecognizer *CreateOfflineRecognizer(
   recognizer_config.max_active_paths =
       SHERPA_ONNX_OR(config->max_active_paths, 4);
 
+  recognizer_config.hotwords_file = SHERPA_ONNX_OR(config->hotwords_file, "");
+  recognizer_config.hotwords_score =
+      SHERPA_ONNX_OR(config->hotwords_score, 1.5);
+
   if (config->model_config.debug) {
     fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", recognizer_config.ToString().c_str());
   }
diff --git a/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.h b/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.h
index 1a5c4dbf..5e514d3d 100644
--- a/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.h
+++ b/sherpa-onnx/c-api/c-api.h
@@ -111,6 +111,12 @@ SHERPA_ONNX_API typedef struct SherpaOnnxOnlineRecognizerConfig {
   /// this value.
   /// Used only when enable_endpoint is not 0.
   float rule3_min_utterance_length;
+
+  /// Path to the hotwords.
+  const char *hotwords_file;
+
+  /// Bonus score for each token in hotwords.
+  float hotwords_score;
 } SherpaOnnxOnlineRecognizerConfig;
 
 SHERPA_ONNX_API typedef struct SherpaOnnxOnlineRecognizerResult {
@@ -335,6 +341,12 @@ SHERPA_ONNX_API typedef struct SherpaOnnxOfflineRecognizerConfig {
 
   const char *decoding_method;
   int32_t max_active_paths;
+
+  /// Path to the hotwords.
+  const char *hotwords_file;
+
+  /// Bonus score for each token in hotwords.
+  float hotwords_score;
 } SherpaOnnxOfflineRecognizerConfig;
 
 SHERPA_ONNX_API typedef struct SherpaOnnxOfflineRecognizer